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Re:Turkey’s earthquakes show the deadly extent of constructi... by phkahler on Monday February 13, 2023 @07:18PM (#34783109)
>> Speculation and landowner greed are the primary drivers of rising housing costs

No, lower interest rates are the primary driver.

Re:Turkey’s earthquakes show the deadly extent of constructi... by ethanbond on Monday February 13, 2023 @08:18PM (#34783788)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ASPUS

Doesn’t seem like the 20% fed funds rate in 1980 did much.

Obviously low rates didn’t cushion the city -> suburb housing crunch during COVID, but COVID isn’t the only time housing prices have gone up. They seem only to go up.

Land prices track exactly to the productivity of the region. Productivity, as a general rule, goes up due to technology, more people yielding more specialization, more natural resources being discovered etc.

Wherever a tech company puts a new office sees skyrocketing local economic productivity and accordingly sees skyrocketing rent prices. That’s not because Mother Earth is charging more per square foot of space, it’s because landowners are.